Between Dreams and Reality
by Taftxuyu'pamtseo
Summary: 9 years after the Battle for the Sacred Tree, Jake and the Omaticaya are trying to regain a sense of Normality. The RDA had left Pandora for good, or so he thought. Please read and review.
1. Chapter 1

Norm Spellman walked quietly through the underbrush of Pandora's forest. His blue feet making soft footprints in the mud, he looked up into the drizzle that made it through the canopy. He closed his eyes and listened to the sound of the forest, a Sturmbeest trumpeted far in the distance, and something was buzzing around a stand of trees to his left, possibly a nest of Hellfire Wasps. Opening his eyes, he took in the beauty of the forest around him. Ever since the RDA left Pandora, his life had changed for the better. His understanding of the Na'vi, the Omaticaya, and the deep connection with Eywa, had grown farther than he had expected. He realized, finally, that this was the life he should have been born to.

His first Avatar body had been killed during the battle for the Tree of Souls, but there had been a shipment, sent by an automated ISV that was carrying supplies to the now abandoned RDA facility, and it had the supplies to clone Avatars, just enough for three or four bodies. That gave him his second chance, and it gave his colleague and friend, Dr. Max Patel, the chance to finally become one with Pandora and her children.

A sudden sound brought him out of his reverie. He opened his eyes and let his nose sniff the air. Hexapede. He looked around and found his target. It stood eating some Pandoran grass, completely oblivious to its life ticking down to its last seconds. Norm raised his bow and leveled it, the arrow pointing directly at his target. With a slow breath he pulled back, closed his eyes, and let loose. A cry came from the Hexapede as it fell over. Norm, as quick and graceful as any Na'vi, crossed the distance and knelt by the kill.

"_Oel__ngati kameie, ma__Tsmukan, ulte__ngaru seiyi ireiyo.__Ngari hu Eywa saleu tirea,__tokx__'ì'awn__slu__Na'viyä hapxì__."_

He quickly took his knife and plunged it into the Hexapedes heart, ending its physical life.

Jake Sully walked quietly over and knelt next to Norm, putting a hand on his friends shoulder. "Well done my friend, that was a clean kill. Are you ready?"

Norm took his knife out of the Hexapede and sheathed it. He looked over to Jake and nodded. "I am, _Olo'eyktan_."

Jake smiled and opened his mouth to say something, but clearly decided against whatever he was going to say. "Then you must climb_ Iknimaya_." He stood and helped Norm carry the carcass back to the village. "And what did I say about calling me clan leader while we're alone?"

Norm laughed, "Sorry Jake, I'm just used to all the formalities. Especially around Neytiri, she's a stickler for that stuff."

"Do you see Neytiri around Norm?" Jake looked around, as if not sure of that himself. He shook his head and reassured himself mentally that she was back in the village, but wouldn't put it against her that she would follow him on this journey. She was after all, the one who had taught him all of this "Tree-hugger crap".

Norm did almost exactly the same thing. When their eyes connected, they both let out a shaky laugh, and walked the rest of the way back to the village in a comfortable silence, letting the sounds of the forest wash over them.

* * *

Authors Note: I know the first chapter was short, but I was just stretching my wings, so to speak. They do get longer and more flavorful, for lack of a better word.


	2. Chapter 2

The new village of the Omaticaya was not far from the Tree of Souls. The encampment was made up of tents of all shapes and sizes, made from materials as plentiful as leaves and branches, to things a little harder to acquire, like animal hides. The Na'vi went about their business, adults weaving, children playing with toy Ikrans, and the elders socializing amongst themselves. Jake and Norm's arrival caused little stir; everyone knew they were out hunting.

Jake and Norm gave the Hexapede carcass to a few willing people and made their way towards the center of the camp. Several Na'vi made friendly gestures and comments as they passed and a group of children came running up to them. One of the children, a child of about seven years, had eyebrows, and five fingers.

"Sempul, sempul!" he shouted. The rest of the children followed him as he ran up to Jake.

Jake knelt and as soon as his son was in his arms, he hoisted him in the air. "Tom'tey! Have you grown today? I swear you are heavier than this morning"

Tom'tey laughed and shook his head, "I'm no bigger than this morning sempul. I am stronger though!" He gave his father a punch on the shoulder for emphasis. Jake winced and pretended to be in agony, his shoulder slumping convincingly as he almost "dropped" Tom'tey. "See? I told you!"

Jake laughed again as Norm dodged a punch from the child. "Alright Tom'tey, that's enough. Run along and play." He folded his arms and watched as they ran away, jumping through a patch of ferns trying to make a group of Fan Lizards erupt into a visual playground.

"_Oel ngati kameie_."

They both turned to find the source of the new voice. Jake saw her first, and smiled. "_Oel ngati kameie_ Neytiri."

Neytiri's golden eyes glowed as she gazed upon her mate, obvious love and affection in her eyes. Her smile seemed to glow and her laugh was full of happiness. Jake couldn't help but give her a tight hug. Norm looked away politely as the brief display of affection took place.

As Norm looked away he happened to come across the face a woman who was weaving with her friends. Her eyes were the most beautiful he had ever seen, and as she just stared at him he felt his face grow hot. He gave a weak wave and she laughed, embarrassing him even more. He turned, but kept looking back towards the woman as he walked with Jake and Neytiri towards the camps central ring. He tripped over a rock that was half buried in the dirt and barely caught himself before he fell completely on his face. Turning, he saw that she was working diligently again and he broke into a quick trot to catch up.

In the middle of camp, all the food was being prepared. Other hunters had brought in their catches, ranging from a massive Sturmbeest to more Hexapedes and a few Stingbats. Nothing was wasted as they were cleaned, and the fires were beginning to come to life as spits were decorated with the food. People began to gather around the pits and began to talk amongst themselves. The children returned from playing and sat next to their parents. Tom'tey sat between his mother's legs and leaned against her. She absentmindedly run her hand through his air in a petting fashion and stared into the fire intently.

As the food cooked, more people came to eat. Food was passed around on plates made of leaves and branches, and drinks found its way around the Na'vi also. The air around the cooking fires lightened and a few people decided to start singing a dancing song. Several of the children took the opportunity to play a little longer and began to dance. Jake found a cup with some of the freshly brewed alcohol and took a quick drink, passing it to Norm. Norm took a drink and nearly choked as he coughed. "I'll never get used to that stuff."

Jake laughed and took the cup back, "It's no worse than Vodka. Hell I'm pretty sure wine is worse than that."

Norm shook his head and smiled, "Say what you want Jake, but I'm no drinker, especially compared to an ex-marine." Jake laughed and patted him on the shoulder, turning to say something to Neytiri.

Something had caught Norm's eye though. The weaver. She sat on the other side of the fire, staring at him. She still wasn't smiling now, nor singing, just staring. Norm felt awkward, so he smiled and gave her a quick wave. She stood, turning to one of the people next to her and began to dance with the children, more of the Omaticaya joining in with her.

Then she smiled, truly happy.


	3. Chapter 3

The night drew on and eventually the Na'vi drifted off to their tents to find some rest. Neytiri, carrying a sleeping Tom'tey, said goodnight to Norm and Jake, and walked to the tent she shared with her mate. Soon, only a few were left around the fire, including Jake and Norm. The two talked about their journey today, the tracking, the hunt, and eventually the kill.

"I'm glad it's over with," Norm said, leaning back and laying down on the ground, staring at the night sky, Polyphemus's blue atmosphere radiating above him. Its other moons pock-marked its surface with shadows, and the stars seemed to shine brighter than normal.

"I know what you mean," Jake said. "It was a pain in the ass when I had to do it, but trust me when I say that was the easy part." He looked up to the sky just as Norm had done. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure," Norm replied. He gave a quick yawn, "Anything."

Jake stared at the dirt between his feet. "Do you ever miss Earth?"

Norm sat up. "A little bit. Only sometimes." He looked around at the almost non-existent crowd. "I miss my family every day, especially my pop. He was always there for me, supported me in everything. Hell he paid half my tuition to college. Every day I wonder whether he's still doing alright or not. "

Jake smiled and stood. "I better get to bed. Neytiri would rip my queue out of my skull if I woke her up in the middle of the night."

Laughing, Norm stood. "I'll head off too." They grasped each other's forearms.

"_Kìyevame _Norm."

"_Kìyevame_ Jake."

Norm went and found his way to his tent. He shared it with 2 other taronyu, Kepu and Lemala. They were both asleep on their mats when he walked in, so he tip-toed his way to his own. The inside of the tent had been decorated with paintings and weavings that they all collectively agreed on. His jaw cracked a yawn, and he finally realized just how tired he was. Almost falling over onto his mat, he laid down and closed his eyes, the noise of the nocturnal animals

Jake woke with a start. He sat up and looked around his tent. Neytiri still slept soundly and Tom'tey snored softly on his pallet. Rubbing his face he tried to remember the nightmare that had awoken him. So far, he'd had a nightmare every night for ten days, and he had no clue what it meant. He didn't want to bring it up with Neytiri because he knew she would over analyze it. He stood and walked out of the tent, hoping the cool air would calm him down enough to get to sleep.

Not many Na'vi were up, only a few sentries that he had posted to make sure nothing would catch them off guard. They nodded as he passed and he returned the gesture. He walked towards the outer rim of tents and into the forest. Figuring the forest would be a calm enough place, he made his way towards it. He found a rock and sat, just to listen to the forest's inhabitants. A few chirps and a scrapes was all he heard, normal for the time of night it was. The natural bio-luminescence of the forest calmed him down. The soft glow of green, purple, cyan, and blue emanating from the plants around him made him think of just how lucky he was to be here. He lost track of time, only realizing this because the warmth from the sun had started to burn through the morning mist.

He ran back towards the village. More people were about now, waking friends and relatives. Children were up as was normal, and he could see his own son playing among them. He went to find Neytiri, hoping she wouldn't be upset that he had snuck away in the middle of the night. "Why would she," he said to himself.

He found her with some of the other women talking around the fire pit. She saw him and smiled. Only when he got closer did he see the tension in her eyes. Aw crap, he thought.

"_Oel ngati kameie_ my Jake."

"_Oel ngati kameie _my heart."

"We must talk," she said. There was something in her voice. Not anger or frustration. Sadness? Fear? Jake couldn't discern what it was.

"Come, I found a place we can speak in private." He took her hand and led her back to the rock he spent the rest of his night on. He sat down, and she sat on his lap, nestling her head under his chin.

"I dreamt last night Jake," she whispered.

"We all dream," he replied. His mind immediately went to the nightmare he had.

"No, it was too real to be something of imagination." She looked up at him, her eyes suddenly very sad. "I saw Ayvitraya Ramunon. It was burning."

That's when Jake remembered what his nightmare was about.

AMP suits running through the foliage.


	4. Chapter 4

Norm sneezed. His nostrils twitched as he sniffed some spice that a cook was putting into a clay pot of some boiling turquoise liquid. It gave him the impression of an old-age Italian cook adding oregano to a pot of tomato pasta sauce. Rubbing his nose, he bid the cook farewell and went off looking for Jake. He heard that he and Neytiri went off into the forest. I hope I won't be interrupting anything, he thought. The village had several different paths he could have taken, but even though it had been many years, his fascination with the Na'vi had never ceased to exist. He walked aimlessly, observing how they wove, cook, played, and socialized. The scientist part of his brain didn't seem to have an off-switch.

Tom'tey came running at him along with all of his friends. They all chased after him, playing a game similar to what "Tag" is on earth, only everybody chases one person. It was supposed to simulate a hunt, and the children split off into two groups, the Taronyu, and the unlucky child who was picked as the animal. Tom'tey made an "elephant" noise with his lips. "Tom'tey, are you a _talioang_?" He smiled, patting his head as Tom'tey hid behind his legs.

"No, I am _Palulukan_!" He scratched at the air, but still made the trumpet noise.

Norm burst into laughter, "No, no, no, you have the sound wrong. _Palulukan_ goes RAAAHHR!"

Tom'tey looked up at him and smiled devilishly, "_Irayo_!" He looked at his playmates and grinned, putting his hands up in claws and sucking in air. "RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHRRR!" At the end of his scream, the children scattered in different directions, pretending to run for their lives. "_Irayo_ Norm," he yelled as he ran after one of the children.

Norm smiled and chuckled under his breath. The children always made him smile and it was nice to see that they wouldn't have to encounter anything like their parents had. He shuddered at the thought. Even he didn't like to think about those days. The memory of the gunshots that tore through his avatar were still to vivid in his brain to be comfortable. That also brought up the memory of Trudy.

He could still see her smile, her laugh. Quaritch was the man responsible for her death, but he wished that he could have been the one to shoot the man. He was glad that Neytiri had been the one to do it though. At least it was someone that he knew. He was over the fact that she was gone. He couldn't bring her back so why should he dwell on it?

"Because you are human," a voice inside his head told him.

"I'm not human anymore. I am Na'vi, soon to be Omaticaya."

"But you will always be human, in here," it said. He could almost feel it tap against his skull.

He couldn't refute that. Did Jake have these same thoughts? Did any of the avatar drivers? Why did it matter if they did? "I'm Na'vi," he said out loud, "I left humanity for something better."

"Norm!"

He turned and saw Jake coming out of the trees alone. Neytiri must have gone a different way, around the village perhaps. "_Oel ngati kameie_ Jake," he said with a smile.

"_Oel ngati kameie_," Jake said. "Go and get your things, we're leaving soon." He turned and left without another word.

Something must have upset him, he thought. Iknimaya wasn't very far from here. He ran to his tent and grabbed his things, and headed towards where the Direhorses were. Hopefully by the end of today he would return on his own Ikran.


	5. Chapter 5

The ride to Iknimaya was not very long, only a few hours. Norm's heart felt like it was about to pound its way through his chest. His Direhorse, Felei, plodded along at leisurely pace along with the rest of the people who came with him. One of his tent mates, Kepu, was also being tested today. His Na'vi features remained calm, but his fingers twitched every now and then. At least I'm not the only nervous one, he thought. The party came to a halt in front of a tower of floating rocks.

Jake dismounted and everyone else followed suit. "From here, we climb. We must go to where the Ikran nest." He gave Norm a nod of encouragement, and began scaling the rocks.

Norm walked up to the face of the rock tower. Looking up, his heart began to beat faster. "Why is it so tall," he asked himself quietly. Finding a hold, he began hoisting himself up the tower of rocks. The closer he went towards the top, the farther it seemed to get. "Don't look down, don't look down, don't look down," he chanted to himself. Kepu was right behind him, giving him encouragement.

"_Rikx_, Norm," he said lightheartedly.

Norm looked down at Kepu, and regretted it immediately. He saw the hard ground hundreds of meters below. Instinctively, he clutched the rock face with both hands and shut his eyes as tight as he could. He began to quiver in fear and wouldn't move. "Come on Norm," he said to himself, "if you're going to fly an Ikran, it's going to be higher than this." He took a deep breath and released his death grip on the rocks. Tentatively, he put his foot in a crack and moved his hand to find another hold. He began to chant his "don't look down" mantra over and over again.

Eventually, the tower ended at what seemed like a dead end. Jake and Kepu were already waiting for him. "What's next," he asked. He looked out over the landscape in front of him. The forest below was a deep green, with patches where a lake or a pond might be. The mountains above him rotated lazily in an endless ballet. Waterfalls coming from their interiors gently watered the ground below them.

"This is next," Jake said. As the mountain above them turned, it brought a grouping of vines their way. Jake tensed his legs in a half crouch and jumped out to catch one. Norm felt his stomach jump as Jake dived through the air, but relief flooded through him as Jake caught the vine and began climbing. "You're next Norm," he said, still climbing.

Norm gathered himself. He glanced at Kepu, and saw he was smiling. "I just jump," Norm asked in Na'vi. Kepu nodded and motioned for him to go. He turned towards the ledge and waited for the next vine to come close. It seemed like he waited for hours, but his time was up. Adjusting his angle, he took two steps and leaped from the edge.

The three seconds Norm was in the air were the longest of his life. His mind went through every possibility that could happen. What if he misjudged the speed? What if he missed the vine? What if he…? He stopped the thought of him falling to the ground as his hands gripped the vine. He wrapped his feet around it and held tight. Luckily, the vine was not slick, as he had originally thought it would be. His fingers started to ache, so he relaxed them and began his climb. Kepu was right behind him.

The rest of the climb up the mountain was not so bad. Most of it was pathways that had formed naturally. It wasn't soon before Norm began hearing a constant roaring. It increased in volume as they entered a tunnel that led to the opposite side of the mountain. A few short minutes later, he saw where the noise originated. A waterfall curtained the end of the tunnel.

* * *

Jake remembered this part all too well. He could only imagine what Norm was thinking at that moment. Probably what I was when I first came up here, he thought. He walked up to the waterfall and stopped. The cool spray misted his face and cooled him off. Norm walked up and tapped his shoulder. "What's next," he asked.

Jake turned and pointed towards a path the led up to the side of the mountain. "The Ikran nest is up that path. You remember what I told you?"

"I think so," Norm said. "I have to feel it in here," he pointed to his chest for emphasis."

"That's right, and what happens if the Ikran chooses you?"

Norm swallowed, "then it tries to kill me."

"Right," Jake said. "You can do it Norm, I have faith. Hell, I did it."

"You were a marine Jake," Norm said acidly.

"Yeah, well, I was in a wheel chair for a while."

Norm laughed. Jake hoped that the joking around would help him relax a bit. It was a very stressful test, and it helped if you went in with a clear mind. Thoughts of failure weren't exactly the best to be having when you were literally fighting for your life. "Go on," Jake said, "find your partner."

* * *

Norm shook Jakes hand before he headed up the path. The age-old earth gesture felt good, and it relaxed him just a bit more. His feet moved silently up the rocky path and he could hear the screeches and wing flaps as the roar of the waterfall was left behind him. His heart began to race again. The path became narrower as he walked up to its apex, and that's when he saw just how many Ikran were there.

Hundreds upon Hundreds of them. The colors seemed to swirl as they moved and tried to avoid him. He kept walking though. This was something he had to do, to become a part of the Omaticaya. He took out his makeshift bolas and began whirling it. The Ikran began screeching and hissing and most of them flew away. Norm kept walking for a few meters before one Ikran stood to challenge him. Jake stood behind him a bit, but gave him some encouraging remarks.

The Ikran stood on its hind legs, fanning its wings to try and increase its size. It was red with a black and green pattern on it. The teeth in its mouth fanned out and it hissed at him. Norm stood his ground as best he could, the bolas still twirling in a circle next to him. He increased its speed and walked closer to the Ikran. It put its front arms on the ground and laid low, still hissing. Norm stepped closer to it, and in one move, wrapped the bolas around its mouth and jumped on its back

The Ikran began to buck and tried to shake him off. All that Norm could do was hang on for dear life. He waited for the moment that it would pause in its thrashing so that he could make Tsahaylu, but he didn't know if he'd be quick enough.

"Come on Norm!" Jake's yell gave him some much needed support. He gritted his teeth and took its head between his arms and pulled it down. The Ikran still flapped its wings, but they couldn't reach the middle of its back. Norm put one leg around the front of its head to keep it still, but the Ikran took that moment to push itself up and knock Norm off at the same time. Norm hit the ground hard, and it took him a few seconds to regain his standing position. The Ikran was trying its best to tear the bolas of its snout, but Norm was too quick. He jumped back on its back and tried the same thing again, with the same results.

What am I doing wrong, he thought. He tried to look at the situation from a purely analytical state of mind. He looked at all the possibilities and he chose the best one. He came around from in front of it so that it could see where he was. He heard it hiss through its closed mouth. Taking his queue in one hand, he used his other as a distraction. He held it out from his body as far as it could go, and luckily the Ikran's eyes followed. Quickly, he side stepped around its head, grabbed its antenna, and made _Tsahaylu_.

The Ikran screeched one last time before becoming totally calm. It breathed hard, but made no move that Norm didn't want it to. This bonding felt different than a bond with a Direhorse, more intimate.

"Quick," Jake said, "you have to take it and fly. Quickly, before it's too late."

Norm did as he was told. He jumped on and told it to fly. It ran towards the edge of the cliff and jumped. Norm felt the rush of the air in his face as he fell, but he wasn't scared anymore.

* * *

P.S.: For anyone who is having trouble with the language of the Na'vi, there is a great dictionary at .


	6. Chapter 6

That night was filled with celebration. The Na'vi sang and dance in honor of Norm and Kepu being "reborn". Drinks were passed around and a variety of food decorated spits and stones around the fire. Norm was on his feet, dancing with his people. The current selection was a circular dance, done to honor the circle of life and its energy. The dancer started on the edge of the group and snaked his or her way through the throng of revelers, and ended after reaching the original position.

Norm made this journey four times before he had anything to eat. Now that he was truly accepted among the People, the food tasted better, and the drinks seemed to go down his throat with less resistance. He couldn't explain the feelings that flowed through his body. He tried likening them to when he graduated college, but that would be a severe understatement.

He gazed at the Na'vi. No, not just the Na'vi, but his new family. His brothers and sisters. He needed to start thinking of them that way. This was his home now, and this was going to be his way of life, for the rest of his life. He took a draught from the cup he had in his hand. The bitterness reminded him of beer from Earth, but there was also a considerable kick after it went down his throat. He smiled and took another draught.

He saw Jake off to his left. Neytiri stood next to him and said something, but he couldn't hear over the music. She took his hand and led him off into the forest, its natural glow illuminating them briefly before they disappeared behind the brush. Norm stood and followed them into the forest. He needed to know why Jake seemed so short before they left this morning.

* * *

Neytiri led Jake to the rock they had found earlier that morning. He sat down, but she stood standing, touching the leaves of an Eyaye. Its cyan and purple bioluminescence seemed to brighten as her skin caressed its surface. Jake tried to see her face, but her back was turned to him.

Jake said nothing. His mind fumbled at the possibility that the RDA would return. Neytiri continued touching the Eyaye, more than likely thinking along the same lines as he was. The chance that the RDA would return seemed so slim to him. They left the planet with their tails between their legs, but they would probably do the same thing any other animal would. Lick their wounds and come back fighting. He tried calculating how long it had been since the humans left. It seemed like only weeks. If it took five and half years to travel one way that left them with little time to prepare.

He shook his head. It was only a dream, right? Only a dream, but then why did Neytiri have such a similar dream on the exact same night. "Have you had any other nightmares?"

Neytiri finally turned to him. Her face had as much expression as the rock he sat on, but her eyes gave him a view of what she felt. Her eyes close, shutting that window into her soul for the time being. "Many, my Jake. I am an alive you know? Do not all living things dream?"

Jake grunted and a slight grin formed on his lips, "That's not what I meant. Have you had any others recently?"

Neytiri was silent. She walked to where Jake sat and knelt in front of him. He could see tears forming at the corners of her eyes as she stared at him. "I've had this dream only three times. Every time I do, it hurts me, as if the fire consuming the Ayvitraya Ramunon were burning me. I thought it was a test from Eywa, but not anymore."

Jake rubbed the tears that had leaked down her cheek. "Shh," he crooned. He hugged her head to his chest and rocked slowly side to side.

"Why did it burn, my Jake?"

"Because it was something that you love."

Neytiri wept silently in his arms. Jake was caught off guard. He had only seen her weep once, over the death of her father, Eytukan. This was much different. "Why are you crying?"

She didn't answer immediately. Slowly, she calmed herself, her hands wiping the tear streaks off of her cheeks. Her golden eyes seemed to glow from the light reflected off Polyphemus. "Why do I cry," she asked. "What would you do if I had died? Be honest Jake."

He knew his answer. He was also sure that she knew his answer. He would cry. He would weep. He didn't know what he would do without her. She was his life, the light in the dark. Instead of telling her this, he simply whispered "You know what I would do."

Neytiri surprised Jake by smiling. "Of course I know." Her voice was soft, but stern. Proper for a wife making sure her husband knows who is boss. "I would do the same thing if anything happened to you." Her hand found the side of his face, "So don't let anything happen, ok?"

Jake couldn't help but smile. "I promise nothing will happen. To you or to the Omaticaya." He leaned down to kiss her, electricity flowing from her lips to his.

They sat there, together, for most of the night. Little did they know, they had a visitor. Norm was squatting behind a tree trunk, eavesdropping. So this is why Jake was upset. He was hurting because Neytiri was hurting. Norm stood and silently made his way back to the village. He made a mental note to ask Jake about it tomorrow.

A pair of golden eyes watched Norm as he departed from the twilight of the forest. Their owner made its way after him with the grace of a cat.


	7. Chapter 7

Jake ran through the forest. His bow was slung across his back and his arms pumped as his strides took him closer to his intended target. He didn't consciously know what that target was, but he knew he had to reach it. Something about it drew him, like wind filling his sails. His feet hit the ground with barely any sound, and the wind was the only sound that filled his ears. He had never run this fast before. He imagined that this was what it would feel like to be an arrow shot from a bow.

"Jake…" His name was only a whisper, but it was audible over the rush of the wind. He came to a complete stop immediately. "Jake…" This one was louder. His vision became cloudy and objects began to lose their focus. His body took on an ethereal feel, like he could see through himself. "Jake." He looked around for the source of his name, but the blur of the objects skewed everything into a collage of colors.

"Jake, wake up!"

Jake rose from his sleep. Wiping his eyes with the back of his hands, he looked around for who woke him. The tent was empty except for Neytiri. She was kneeling next to him on the pallet, rubbing his cheek. Her smile was wide and joyful. "Oel ngati kameie," She said.

He smiled and held her hand over his face. "I See You," he said in English. He sat up on his elbow and yawned. His legs stretched out automatically and Neytiri laughed. "What's so funny?"

Neytiri took a finger and dragged it down his face. When he looked at it he saw there was something red on it. He took his own finger and did the same, but on the opposite side. This one came off with something green on it. "Did you forget what today is?" His expression made her laugh again. "Today is Remembrance Jake. Trr'ok?"

Then it hit him. It was face paint. Someone had pulled a prank on him. "Who was it?" He tried to be stern, but a smile broke through his lips. He stood and left the tent, making the proverbial "walk of shame" to find some water. Neytiri followed him, laughing along with everyone else who saw. "Hah hah hah," Jake said, "very funny." He found a water skin and poured it onto his face.

"It was all in good fun, my Jake." Neytiri handed him a cloth to dry his face with. "There were no hard feelings."

"Yeah, well wait till I find the little runt who did this." Jake looked around for the most likely culprit. He searched high and low around his tent, but he couldn't find the person he was looking for. He expanded his search to that corner of the village, and found a possible suspect. He ran after one of the village children and caught him. "Where is Tom'tey," Jake asked in Na'vi

"I'll never tell," the child replied. He tried squirming from Jakes grip. He kept trying, but soon realized it was useless. "Ok, ok. He's hiding behind Fayu'lu's tent!"

Jake let the child go. "Don't warn him I'm coming," he yelled after the retreating child. Quickly, he made his way towards the tent of Fayu'lu. It was part of a pod of tents, all of their backs facing in one direction, making a small storage area in the center. He heard giggling and shushing and knew he had the right place. He took a few steps back and made a quick running jump into the center.

This startled the children that were hiding. He took a quick glance around and found his son. Grabbing him around the waist, he hoisted Tom'tey over his shoulder and walked through the camp towards his own tent. "Neytiri," he called, "find me some face paint!" The look on Tom'tey's face was well worth the trouble it took to find him.

The day was a busy one. Children ran with their toys while the adults prepared the nights feast. Some cooked and some hung ornaments and decorations from poles around the village. Norm wandered around looking for something to do. The few people who saw him over their work greeted him with smiles, and returned to the task at hand. He could remember the few Trr'ok from past years. It wasn't exactly his favorite of days.

His feet meandered through the village. A few lanes over, he saw Jake with Tom'tey. The child's face was a myriad of colors, from one end of the spectrum to the other. Tom'tey didn't look very happy about it, but Jake had a huge grin on his face. It looked like Tom'tey's prank on his father didn't exactly turn out how he wanted it to. Norm couldn't help but smile.

"Are you ok?"

Norm nearly jumped out of his skin. He turned and saw Neytiri laughing. "D-don't scare me like that!"

"You are _taronyu_," she said, "you should be able to hear when things come near." She stood next to him and watched Jake decorate his son. "Are you going to be alright tonight?"

Norm shot a sideways glance at her. "What makes you think I won't?" His mind instantly thought of Trudy. Her tragic end had held its claws in his heart since it happened. That was most of the reason why he hadn't found his mate yet. "I'm sure I'll be fine."

Neytiri looked askance at him. "I know what she meant to you, like what my Jake and I share. I don't like to knowing, but I do when I think of what it would be like without him." She put her hand on his shoulder and looked in his eyes. "You will find someone Norm. I know you will." She made her goodbye and went headed in the direction of the cooking fire.

Norm watched her until she turned out of sight. How did she know so much? After so long he thought he had kept that under wraps, but someone must have told her. She had never confronted him about it before, so why now? There was only one person who…

Jake.

He needed to talk to him. Not now, but soon.


	8. Chapter 8

Fire.

There was plenty of fire to go around. It swam through the air like a plague. The air blistered as it heated. The steady hum of the twin turbines had started to sputter and make noises they weren't meant to.

Trudy could feel her hair sizzle, her face peel back. Her screams went unanswered as the fire roared into an untamable inferno. Through the fire she could see the ground coming closer. Not really the ground, but the canopy of the forest.

She could just make out the faint sheen of water through patches of the greenery. She thought about seeing her life flash before her eyes, but that apparently was just an old wives tale. The shimmer of the lake's waves came closer as the burning Samson came crashing through the trees. Some branches and vines helped slow her decent, she only knew this because the now blackened flight harness began digging into her chest and shoulders, making her scream. The waves came closer and the Samson finally made splash down.

Water immediately began washing through the bullet holes in the canopy and through the bulkhead she had opened to help control the flames. Already the atmosphere of the jungle planet was beginning to blur her vision. She fumbled for her exo-pack that was stashed in a metal compartment under her seat. Gingerly, she placed it over her head and drew a ragged breath. Although it was good for recycling the air, there was no air underwater for it to recycle, and the water was pouring in faster as the air became easier to displace.

With the little strength she had, she hit the emergency release on her harness and made her way out through the bulkhead. The rising bubbles helped push her towards shore, which luckily, was only about 20 meters away. "Keep moving," she chanted with a raspy voice. She knew she could reach the shore. Hell, she just survived a missile impact, an emergency splash down, and a sinking Samson all at one time. Well, she had so far. Her foot hit something as it kicked weekly. The bottom? Yes, it was, she could feel the silt give way under her foot. She stood in the chest deep water and slowly waded her way to the shore.

Her own body weight soon became too much to bear, and she was forced to crawl up on the beach. With a great last heave, she fell flat on her stomach, too exhausted to feel the pain of her burned body. With a weak laugh she whispered, "I really didn't sign up for this shit," and faded into unconsciousness.

Trudy woke with a start. She always did when she dreamt of her near death experience. The shakes and sweat never seemed to disappear either. She sat up and ran her hands through her hair. It had grown back, with some help of course. Her skin however, was irreparable. It had healed, but the scars were still there. All down her arms and face. Luckily, her clothes had protected most of her body from the fire.

She stood and made her way to the mirror. Her room was a tiny 10x8x10 structure, the only furnishings being a bed, table, dresser, sink, toilet, and a mirror. She leaned down and splashed some water onto her face. The chill seemed to calm her down, and she needed it now more than ever. Her reflection showed some resemblance to what she had looked like, but the scars had covered her skin with deformations and ridges. Her eyes and mouth remained the same however.

She made her way to the dresser. She put on a pair of sweat pants and a tank-top. Her coat hung at a hook on the door, and she grabbed that as she made her way out into the hall. Her new residence was an underground RDA lab. Its occupants were out on a research expedition and had found her unconscious by the lake a couple days after her accident. They said that her body was covered in the little white flying jellyfish. What did the Na'vi call them? Ahtocalamari? Whatever. She always had trouble with the language, and she had hoped that the accident would have knocked something loose in her head to help her. Of course, nothing had ever gone her way though.

Her journey led her to the small kitchen. She opened the fridge and found herself a rations pack. The stuff tasted nasty, but it was enough nutrients that your body wouldn't technically need to eat for another twelve hours. She saw a note from one of the scientists. "Meeting at 14:00 today in the physics lab, you might want to be there – Toby"

Toby was one of the people who had found her. For that she owed him. She looked at the clock on the wall. It displayed the TST – Terran Standard Time – and the PLT – Pandoran Local Time. The TST clock read 12:42. "Damn," she said, "What will I do for the next hour?" She quickly ate the rations pack and went to the biology sector. She always enjoyed it in here. At least there was something other than the gray of the steel panels that covered the walls and floor. The green and blue of the plants and fruit always seemed to make her calm, to put her mind at rest.

She picked a piece of purple fruit from a plant and tossed it between her hands. It looked oddly like an eggplant, but it was the size of a grapefruit and had tiny spines that weren't sharp enough to hurt. The biologists here thought it was used to ward off smaller animals. She took a bite out of it. It had the texture of an orange and the taste was indescribable. Somewhere between chocolate sweet and the flavor of a watermelon. "A Choco-melon" she called it. This always gave the biologists something to laugh about.

She dimmed the lights in the room. The soft glow from the plants always amazed her. How could such beauty exist in such a hostile environment? She tried listening to the science geeks, but her mind always drifted off as they talked about cellular structure and replication. It was nice, not only because it was relaxing, but because she wasn't allowed outside of the lab. So many years cooped up in this complex. She was made for open air with gum in her mouth and a flight yoke in her hands, not grounded, in the most literal of meanings.

Her mind wandered as she walked aimlessly through the garden. The tubes that were connected through the pots into the soil reminded her of what she had woken up to after her crash. Without warning, her mind brought up the memory of that morning.

The constant beep of a monitor is what woke her. She hurt. Bad. Her whole body hurt. She tried moving, but even the slightest twitch of her finger was agony. The beeping sped up as her heart began to beat faster. A med-tech came in with a mask over his face. "Stay still, you'll ruin the skin-graft." He checked her vitals and her IV. There were tubes sticking out through her skin in various places. "Do you remember your name?"

Her name? What was her name? She had one, she knew it. What was it?

"T…roo…dee…"

"Can you speak louder? Don't strain yourself."

She took as much air as she could and spoke again.

"Tru…dee"

"Trudy?" She nodded slightly. "Well Trudy, welcome to site 66."

She shook her head and snapped out of her reverie. She didn't really like that day. That's when she found out that she couldn't leave. Technically, this complex didn't exist. There was no paper work on it and the construction was put under some category at Hell's Gate that nobody would ever think to look in for a science facility. She needed to find Jake, let him know that she was fine. She was sure he felt guilty thinking she was dead. She could only imagine what Norm had felt.

The thought of Norm brought up a spike of pain in her heart. Would she ever see him again? She didn't want to live with just memories of him. Memories of cuddling in the Avatar link while Grace and Jake were off playing Na'vi. Other memories that made her blush. She didn't want to have memories, she wanted to make them. She had thought several times about making a break for it, but the only door out was a hatch that was only accessible with a code that only Director Hendrix knew.

"Crap," she said, looking at her watch. 14:05. She was late.

Hurrying out of the biology lab, she made her way through the labyrinth of corridors to the physics lab. It was the only room in the complex with an auditorium seating arrangement for presentations, such as this meeting. She slid quietly onto the bench next to Toby. His shaggy blond hair was combed for the occasion, but his grey eyes gave her a look that said "You're late, as usual."

"Sorry," she whispered.

"Yeah whatever." Toby smiled and leaned his elbows on his knees.

"What did I miss?"

"Not much," Toby yawned quietly, "Hendrix is just going over some weekly business. Something up though. Something has Kurton's panties in bundle." He nodded towards a tall Asian woman standing in the corner behind the Director. Her short black hair was kept tightly in a bun behind her head and her pristine skirt and business shirt were without a wrinkle, as usual. Her slanted eyes stared out over the assembled crowd over her hawk nose. Her beady eyes made contact with Trudy's just for an instant, and that's how Trudy knew Toby was right.

"Maybe something happened up top?"

"Doubt it. We're the last ones here, remember?" He was talking about the last of the RDA. Scientists staying only for the love of science. "Why would we be worried about anything up top? We have plenty of food to last us centuries and an underground river for water."

Trudy couldn't help but speculate, but the Director had caught her attention with something he had said. What was it? Damn it, why didn't she pay attention?

"…over the past few days," Hendrix was saying. "I have decided to allow another expedition out to the surface for a ten day trip."

Trudy was at full attention now. Her ears perked up and her eyes were as wide as possible. To the surface? Maybe this was her chance, to get in touch with Jake and Norm. "I'll be interviewing volunteers over the next couple of days. A list of the party will be posted in the commons by the end of the week. Your all dismissed." Yes. This was definitely her chance. She just had to figure out a good enough reason to get on that list.


	9. Chapter 9

"Hurry up Trudy! They'll leave without us." Toby was almost dancing in her doorway. He was almost as anxious as she was to get out into the open. The walls were stifling, and she was pretty sure she had developed a case of claustrophobia over the past years. "Come on," he whined again.

"Shut up you goof, they won't open the hatch unless everyone is there." She just finished putting the rest of her clothes in a duffle bag. She couldn't help but notice the scars on her skin. They were more noticeable now that she was finally getting out. She wondered if she could find a way to cover them up before she took off to find Jake. Then she realized that her face was covered in the deformities. She slung the bag over her shoulder and pushed Toby out of the way. "Come on, let's go, or 'they'll leave without us'!" She tried to put as much sarcasm in that as possible.

Toby, now forced to follow her, made a face and mimicked what she just said. She turned just in time to see him finish and punched him in the shoulder. Hard. He rubbed the spot and glared at her. "You better hope that doesn't bruise."

"Yeah? Or what? You gonna shove something down my shirt?"

"I could do that."

"That'd be the last thing you ever do, brainiac." Her mood had definitely improved ever since she stepped out of Director Hendrix's office. She had known before she left that she was on the list. She could still feel the sweat dripping down her back.

_The office was one of the nicer rooms in the complex. The walls were covered with walnut paneling and several bookshelves were arranged for easy access. She noticed some authors she remembered from grade school, Charles Dickens, Shakespeare, Mark Twain. She probably would never read those. Too many big words and characters she would never really understand. The director himself sat behind his desk, his computer casting a faint light on his features. _

_His beady brown eyes seemed to watch her over his plump cheeks, and he kept twirling the end of his thick mustache like some 20__th__ century evil villain. "Sit, please." Trudy did as instructed and sat with her back stiff. His constant stare made him seem taller than a Na'vi, and he did have the power to revoke her request. "So, you want to get out of her just as bad as everyone else, eh?"_

"_Yes sir," she said. She was scared, oh yes, but she wouldn't show it to this walrus of a man. "I belong in the open, not cooped up underground like some ant." She clutched a fistful of her pants, recently cleaned and ironed for just this occasion. "I am also qualified for security detail. I have weapons certifications to prove it."_

"_Yes," Hendrix said, "I'm well aware of your military past. It's your future I'm worried about. It would be very unfortunate if you were to be injured in the jungle." He stood and lit a cigar that he took from its box on his desk. The stench was almost a relief, something other than recycled air. "However, you do prove a point. We have a limited amount of security personnel here. You would be an invaluable asset on the trip. That's why I'm letting you go."_

_Trudy exhaled. She didn't know that she had been holding her breath, but now that the worst was over, she could rest easy._

That was three days ago. She really was happy it was over. Hendrix may hold no true power over her, but he was a very intimidating man. "Were you nervous in front of Hendrix," she asked Toby.

"Are you kidding?" Toby shook his head and smiled. "Who wasn't? Hell, I want out of her just as bad as the next guy. I'm just glad that I got chosen."

"You sound like it was some religious act of god that he chose you."

"Who's to say it wasn't?"

"Oh god," she said, "don't throw your religious crap at me again."

"What did I say?" Toby was one of the only Christians in the complex. They all got together every Sunday and read their bibles and prayed. They usually kept it quiet in the commons, so no one really cared what they did.

The doorway to the outside was coming up. Her heart began to beat a little faster with every step. She grabbed her mask, hanging on her belt, and slid it over her face.

"Listen up people," the lead officer was saying, "Out there is hell. Don't fall behind, don't go off alone, and don't take off your masks." He opened the door to the air lock and went in. It was small, so it only held a few people at a time. It wasn't long before her turn came up, and she stepped over the ridge hesitantly. Toby was there and he gave her a reassuring pat on the back. There was a hiss and she felt the pressure change as oxygen was pumped out, and the toxic atmosphere was pumped in. She took a deep breath through her exo-pack, just to make sure it was working. The stale, recycled air greeted her nostrils.

The outer door opened and she stepped out. Everyone who had gone before her was loading up the jeeps and buggies in a giant garage. There was also a large trailer hitched to a truck. There were supplies strapped down to the flatbed, probably building materials for their camp. Trudy had finagled her way into getting herself a buggy with Toby. Nobody would think anything of it; they were practically like a brother and sister. She dumped her duffle in the basket on the back and climbed in the driver seat. It wasn't the same as her Samson, but it would do. Toby climbed in behind her and sat down. "Can I see your license and registration," he asked.

Trudy gave him what he asked. A fist in the air with just one finger raised. "How's that work for ya?"

"Looks legitimate," he said with a laugh, "proceed then."

She hit the ignition and it roared to life. Her foot tapped the gas pedal and the rev of the engine vibrated the entire frame. "Oh yeah, I'm gonna like this." Toby laughed at her from the back.

They had to wait for everyone else to get packed up. It only took a few minutes but those few minutes seemed like an eternity to her. The start up of each vehicle was like a choir: pleasant to the ear. The vehicles moved into a single file line in front of the metal door. Someone pushed a button somewhere and the doors slid open with a squeal. She revved her engine again and heard others do the same. Everybody was anxious to get on the way.

With a honk of the horn, the lead jeep peeled out and headed off into the jungle. Everyone else felt the air of the situation and did almost the same thing. Trudy did, but she added a yell of triumph to it. With a squeal of the tires, she took off after the buggy in front of her. The uneven terrain reminded her of turbulence in the air, but this had an almost rhythmic feel to it.

The greenery was a welcome sight. The gray walls had long ago become eyesore, and the bio-lab was starting to become too familiar. The randomness of the forest was something she could enjoy. She couldn't wait for night to fall. She had never really been outside when it was night, only seeing what the windows would let her, and whatever the plants in the lab had shown her. She almost felt giddy, like one of the scientists.

The convoy drove at full speed for a few hours, dipping and diving under giant roots of trees and through small creeks and rivers. The shrubbery flew by in a green blur and the rocks she couldn't see jolted her through her harness and rattled her teeth. Every now and then she let loose a laugh of pure joy. This was great. Finally, she was free, no walls to hold her, no ceiling that kept her grounded. This was how she was meant to live her life.

Eventually the fun had to end though. The buggy in front of her slowed down, forcing her to do the same. The rest of the convoy came into view then, all parked in a circle at the base of one of Pandora's great trees. Its roots gave them 180 degrees of protection, probably why the lead had chosen this as their base of operations. She parked the buggy and cut the engine. She just sat there for a while, taking in the fact that she was free. Some of the security officers and scientist started to take the materials off of the flatbed. There was only a limited amount of light left, and they had to get the camp up and going.

She unstrapped her harness and climbed out of her seat. Toby was already there and waiting for her, her duffle bag slung over his shoulder. "Come on," he said, "let's go help. The faster we get this done, the quicker we eat."

"Of course," she said, "you're a man. Food is constantly on your brain."


	10. Chapter 10

Trudy twirled the food on her plate. The table sat everyone on the trip, at least twenty people. She glanced at everyone in turn. Casual conversation drifted to her ears and she picked up a few things about plant samples and such. The security detail sat on one side at the corner, not paying much attention to anyone else but themselves. She'd love to go over there and "shoot the shit", but Toby had asked that she sit next to him.

"Trudy?"

Trudy looked up and shook her head. "Huh?" The people next to her were staring at her.

"I asked what you think about the forest." Toby sat with one arm on the table and another with a fork in his hand. "What's your favorite part about it?"

She didn't really have to think about that too hard. "The glow," she said, "it's relaxing. I don't have to worry as much."

"That's why she spent all her time eating the fruit in the bio-lab," one of the scientists said. That brought a round of laughter on her part. She smiled and went back to twirling the mush on her plate. She needed to get out of here. Her nerves were starting to build up, and she knew she was going to have trouble getting out.

"Toby," she asked quietly, "can we go outside in a little bit? I've never really seen the forest at night in person. It's always been through a window or on a vid-screen." She tried to look as pleading as possible. This was more than likely her only chance.

"Sure," Toby said, "we'll go when we're done with dinner." He smiled and patted her shoulder, unknowingly sealing the deal.

The Pandoran night was stunning. Trudy wasn't lying when she said she hadn't seen it in person. It fascinated her enough that she almost lost track of her real goal. She had to pretend to be truly entranced for only a while longer. She walked over to a plant that looked like a palm tree on steroids. Its cyan glow made her skin look pale, almost Caucasian. She kept moving along a line of plants, slowly making her way toward where the vehicles were parked. Her eyes scanned for her buggy and found it behind the flatbed.

Slowly, she made her way around towards the "parking lot". She looked at Toby, and in a very serious voice, said "I'm leaving."

Toby just stood there for a second, no emotion at all evident on behind his mask. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, the exo-pack hissing as it tried to fill his mask with oxygen. "Why?"

"I need to find my friends," Trudy said. "They need to know I'm not dead. They need a clear conscience. The last they saw of me was a fire ball falling from the sky."

"How do you know they are still out there?" Toby opened his eyes and stared at her intensely. His voice gradually picked up the same intensity. "How do you know they even care?"

"I don't know, but that doesn't matter." She hopped into the driver's seat and flipped the ignition switch. The buggy started with a low roar and idled patiently. Trudy looked to her right at Toby. "Are you gonna come with me or not?" She revved the engine a little to emphasize her question.

Toby just stood there. For a second she thought he was going to run for the security guards. He took a step back away from the buggy, obviously in conflict with himself. Trudy could only imagine what he was going through, but she hoped that the part of his brain that is that knight in shining armor won. Her hopes were answered as he let out a growl and ran over to jump in the seat behind her. "You owe me Chacon. Big time."

"Yeah, yeah, I owed you a long time ago." She pushed the accelerator to the max and the buggy peeled out, dirt and rocks spewing out from the rear tires.

She turned the headlights on, but realized that she really didn't need them. The natural lights from the plants gave off as much light as any streetlight on Earth. She wove her way through the glowing forest, heading towards a place where her guidance instruments would soon start to malfunction. "Do you know where you're going," Toby asked over the roar of the engine.

"Yeah," Trudy said, "I've been here more times than you think." Of course, that had been in the air. You could see where you were going in the air. That's why she didn't like the ground. Things could pop out at you with little to no warning. She was honestly going of her women's intuition. She knew the general direction of the Tree of Souls, but that was it. Hopefully Toby wouldn't catch on.

They drove for only a short time. Site 66 wasn't more than a couple hundred clicks from the Tree, and they hadn't traveled to far from that. She looked up and saw a familiar stone arch above her. She killed the engine and climbed out, Toby following suit. She grabbed the pistol from a compartment behind the buggy. It was a good idea to bring some sort of protection on Pandora. She made her way through the underbrush towards where the arch met the ground.

"What was that," Toby asked. It was a whisper, but loud enough for her to hear. She stopped walking and listened. What was it? It didn't sound natural. Like the wind was singing a dirge. No, not the wind. Voices. She took off at a run in the direction of the voices. That had to be them, the People. She cleared a ridge and saw that she was correct.

It looked like an entire clan. They were all arranged in a semi-circle around the Tree of Souls, singing what sounded like a very sad song. But from the way they swayed, it looked more like some sort of prayer.

"What the hell…?" Toby's mouth hung open and he was wide eyed. "What are they doing?"

"Calling for pizza? How the hell do I know, does it look like I speak na-" She was cut short buy something sharp under her neck. She looked down and saw a long blue arm holding a knife to her skin. A quick look to the side saw the same thing happen to Toby. All she could say was, "ah, shit.

Norm sat amongst the Omaticaya, singing a prayer for those who had died, both recently and long ago. That was what Trr'ok was all about, Remembrance. The only bad thing, was it made him remember Trudy. Yeah, it had been short, but better short than never at all he liked to say. The prayer song ran into a chorus, and he began singing with more heart, the thought of Trudy giving him strength. The harmony was almost surreal, like it wasn't real. He enjoyed it, probably a little more than he should.

Something happened at the back of the group. Someone had screamed. Was it an attack? Maybe a pack of nantang, big enough to take on the clan. There were two taronyu walking forward with some weird creatures in front of them. They were almost half the size of the Na'vi. They were bipedal, and they had fingers.

Five fingers.

What were humans doing here? They had left long ago! The two Na'vi reached the center dais, where the Tree of Souls stood and where Jake, Neytiri, and Mo'at stood. Mo'at had recently returned from a visit to a neighboring village in need of guidance.

Jake looked at the two humans with what looked like sorrow. Maybe regret. He spoke to the two taronyu, telling them to leave the humans and go back to their places.

"Who are you?" Jake asked in English.

"Just scientists," the male said, "We're only here to study."

"Yeah, what the nerd said." That was the female. She sounded so very familiar. Norm stood. He went walked up to dais and stood next to Jake. He looked at the female. She had burn marks all over her face and down her arms. Something looked familiar, but he couldn't put his finger on it. She looked him in the eyes, her brown irises adjusting to the strange light, and they opened even wider. "Norm?"

That's why it was so familiar. He heard her voice in his mind not more than thirty seconds ago.

"Trudy?!"


	11. Chapter 11

Norm looked so much different as a Na'vi. For one, he was sexy. Well, as sexy as a ten foot tall blue hunk could be. His Na'vi nose was flatter to his face and his eyes seemed to be angled a little more. "Are you in a link right now?" He had to be. Jake too. She couldn't wait to see them as humans again.

"Well uh, you see Trudy," Norm began, "things have changed. A lot of things." He seemed nervous, but he knelt in front of her, effectively making them the same height. "This is my body now. I don't have to be in a link anymore. Eywa put my consciousness from my human body into my avatar." Trudy took a step back.

"Impossible," Toby said. "Physically impossible! We pushed the boundaries as they were with the avatar links. There is no way that something so primitive could accomplish something we couldn't!"

"Nothing is impossible for Eywa," Neytiri spat. She looked down at Toby with contempt. "You can see that it is not impossible. The proof is right in front of your nose, but your human eyes are too blind to See!"

Jake laid a hand on his life mate's shoulder. "Remember how I was?" His reasoning seemed to calm her down, but only as much as a drop of water stops a bonfire. "What is your name?"

"Toby Danforth."

"Alright Toby," Jake said. "Do you think I am linked right now?"

Toby struggled with himself. He opened his mouth to say something, but closed it before the words got out. "It's the only explanation, the only reasonable one." He scratched his head, "but if you and your people so adamantly believe that you are truly there both in body and soul, then who am I to judge."

Jake smiled. "That was the right answer." Neytiri still didn't seem pleased.

Trudy needed to speak up, to help defend Toby. It was the least she could do. "Look, Jake, nothing bad needs to happen to him. He did help save me after the crash." She looked at Toby briefly before turning back to the Na'vi. "He's not a half bad person either. Better than most that I know of." She looked at Norm and thought she saw something in his expression. Pain? Why would he be hurting? "There's not many humans left. Twenty of us left the complex today."

"How many are left," Jake asked.

"I don't know. Maybe ten or fifteen." Trudy tried remembering, but Norm's expression had her mind scrambled. Her heart said to end this chit-chat and find out what was wrong with Norm, but her mind said it was necessary. "Why do you want to know?"

Jake looked at Neytiri and Mo'at. Some silent conversation went in front of Trudy and Toby before Jake spoke. "If there is one of these secret labs," he said, "then there must be others. The RDA was nothing if not thorough." He walked over to Toby. "Are there more?"

Toby just stood there silently. He shifted from foot to foot, obviously uncomfortable in his situation. "I'm not sure." He looked at Jake for a moment before speaking. "It is possible. You're right about the RDA, they would have more. The only way we could know for sure is-" He paused.

"Is what," Neytiri asked. She stepped forward and shook Toby gently. "Tell us please."

"We'd have to hack into an RDA computer."

That's how they ended up in the garage at site 66. Jake, Neytiri, Norm and Trudy stood guard as Toby worked his magic on the airlock. The outer door hissed open and they all went stepped in. They tested whether the Na'vi could breathe in what the humans did with the exo-packs, and they could. They said the air tasted stale, but they didn't feel any abnormalities. The outer door closed and a mixture of earth gases replaced the Pandoran air. The Na'vi wrinkled their noses. "I forgot how stale it was," Norm said.

The inner airlock opened and they made their way into the complex. Jake, Norm, and Neytiri had to crouch, but their movement was otherwise unaffected. Luckily for them, it was still the middle of the night, and everyone was fast asleep in their quarters. The way to the Directors office was deserted, but his door was locked. Toby did some code breaking and had the door opened in just a short time. They filed in and locked it again behind them.

It was the same as Trudy remembered, walnut paneling, the book shelves, and the thick oak desk. Toby sat down in his chair and turned on the screen. It asked him for a password. "This may take a couple minutes," he said.

"Just hurry." Jake's voice was anxious. His face showed it a little too. He didn't want to be caught anymore than the rest of them. Trudy took the time to look over the books on the shelf. Maybe she could try reading them. It never hurt to try. Norm came by her side and picked up a book too.

"How did you survive," he asked quietly.

She looked at him briefly and went back to leafing through the pages. "It's a long story."

"By the looks of it," he said, "we'll be here for a while."

Trudy laughed. "Fine." She grabbed a chair and pulled it over to a corner. "Come sit. I'll tell you." Norm did as he was told, and Trudy whispered "good kitty". That brought a look of disapproval which made her laugh. "After the missile impact, I got these burns." She moved her arms and touched her face. "It hurt like a mother, let me tell ya, but that's not the worst part. I fell almost 400 meters through the canopy and into a lake. I got out and swam to the shore and passed out. When I woke up, I was here." She curled her legs up to her stomach and rested her chin on her knees. "It sucked Norm. I wanted to go find you, to at least let you know I was alive." She closed her eyes and sighed. "Now I'm just some ugly hag."

"No," he said, "you're not." He put his hand on her cheek and smiled.

"Got it!" Toby interrupted the moment. They both laughed and went over to the desk. The screen showed hundreds of files, but Toby obviously knew what was unnecessary. He picked through the files and found one that talked about at least three different labs. "Site 56, site 00, and site 48." He looked at their credentials. "56 is a weapons facility, 00 is an agriculture facility and 48 is…" His sentence trailed off as he brought up the details of site 48. "48 is a Na'vi test lab."

"What do you mean," Neytiri asked.

"I mean they're doing experiments on the Na'vi."

"No…" Neytiri brought a hand to her mouth. A tear slid down her cheek and the door to the office opened.

Director Hendrix stood in the door way. His coffee cup hit the ground and shattered.


	12. Chapter 12

Neytiri looked around the office. The walnut wooding reminded her of Hometree, how its grain seemed to make everything in the room right. However, she couldn't imagine cutting down a tree to decorate a room. The thought almost made her nauseous, but she was too strong for that. It was still a strange place though. For one, the room was much too small. She didn't enjoy crouching. It gave her less room to maneuver, and this was a hostile place. The hanging paintings on the wall reminder her of the pictures she had seen all her life, back in Hometree. Norm and Trudy sat in the corner conversing quietly.

She felt pain go through her heart. Her clan's ancestral home was still there, but it was sideways, lying on its trunk. Jake had tried moving the clan back, but the tree was impractical on its side. That's why the Omaticaya remained in a village on the ground. Neytiri hoped to be able to find a new _Kelutrel_, her ancestors had done it when they picked the first one, so why couldn't the People do it now? Jake had sent search parties out, but they hadn't been able to find a suitable home.

The human, Toby, was rapidly pressing a flat object with a bunch of scribbles on it. The same scribbles appeared on a light box on the table. She paid no attention to him; what he was doing held no interest to her. She only wanted his results. Jake was leaning across his shoulder. Neytiri could see his eyes move back and forth across the light box. This was the thing he called reading. Apparently on Earth, they had their language in writing, and they read it in things called books. She saw the shelves on the walls with thick objects on them and moved a few steps to her left and reached and grabbed one.

It was heavy, even for her. The cover was hard like wood and had some of the scribbles she saw on the thing Toby was using. She saw that it could open, and flipped over the cover. The inside had thin sheets, with more scribbles adorning the surface. Jake looked up from Toby's work and saw her. "What are you doing," he asked.

"Are these books?" She held it up for him to see. The red cover closed as she did so.

Jake was about to move to her side when Toby yelled "Got it!" Everyone huddled around the light box to see what he had found. His fingers moved over its screen and pictures opened up with more of the strange scribbles. His voice couldn't catch her attention. She kept looking at the book in her hands. What was it really for? Stories were better told through voice, through songs. Why would a person want to sit in silence and try to imagine a story from nothing. Something Toby said finally caught her attention.

"Site 48 is a Na'vi test lab," he was finishing.

"What do you mean," she asked.

"I mean they're doing tests on the Na'vi."

Neytiri felt a tear trickle down her cheek. "No," she whispered. Jake told her what some scientists did when they found something new. The images that formed in her head were horrible.

There was a quiet "whoosh" as the door opened. A man stood there, his upper lip covered in hair. He held a cup in his hand and it dropped to the ground and broke. Neytiri's mind hesitated only seconds. As the man turned to run, she tossed the book at him. Not so much tossed as chucked. It hit the back of his head with a dull thud and he hit ground with a skid.

For all the space she had, she moved quicker than anyone else. Even though they were Na'vi in body and soul, Jake and Norm were still clumsy by her standards. In an instant she was by the man's side. She saw his chest moving, so he was still alive. Flipping back his eyelid, she saw his brown iris constrict as the light from the hall made its way to his pupil. The fact that humans had different colored eyes still fascinated her. She had only seen the lush gold of the Na'vi for most of her life. The memory of Jake's blue eyes still held a significant spot in her mind though. They were beautiful.

Jake moved by her side, putting two of his fingers to the man's neck. "Good shot. You knocked him out cold."

"What do you mean 'knocked out'," she said, "I didn't knock anything."

Jake chuckled and shook his head. "Never mind," he said. He hooked his arms around the man's shoulders and dragged him back into the office. Neytiri followed him and Norm shut the door. Jake hefted the man into the chair that Trudy was just in and looked around the room. "We need something to bind him with," he said. "Look around, try to find something."

A search of the office turned up nothing, but the chair had a little bit of upholstery. The golden rope that lined its edges came off with little effort. They used it to tie s hands and feet to the chair. Once he was bound to Neytiri's satisfaction, Toby went back to the light box. "I'll see if I can find 48's location," he was saying. "The Na'vi shouldn't be tested on." Neytiri thanked him silently for that. At least not all the humans were senseless beings. But then again, Jake and his friends had shown him that. Especially Grace.

The man was beginning to come to. His eyes fluttered open and he tried to move his arms. "What the," he said. "Who the hell do you think you are? Danforth?! What the hell are you doing? I'll have your head for this!" He struggled against his restraints and grunted with the effort. "Untie me you savages!"

Neytiri took her hunting knife and pressed it against his cheek. His struggling ceased and his eyes opened wide as he stared at her angry face. "Where is this…" she looked at Toby for the word.

"Site 48," he said.

"Site 48," Neytiri repeated. "You will tell me, and I will let you live. If you choose silence…" she pressed the knife against his skin harder for emphasis. "Do you understand?"

The man nodded his head. "Yes, yes, just don't be rash.  
"Tell me," she crooned.

The man's eyes darted around the room. "You'll never get in, it's too heavily guarded." Neytiri pressed the knife a little harder, and he backed away instinctively. "Alright! On the coast, by the Eastern Sea, there's a cove. It's in there. But you'll never get in. They have four times as many people as we do here."

"Numbers aren't everything," Jake said. His hands were curled into fists as he moved closer. "No lies or-"

"I swear, I swear," he pled. "It's the truth! Why would I lie?"

"Come," Neytiri said to Jake. "We're done here, let's leave. I don't like this confinement." She pulled on his arm to get him to move.

The mismatched group filed out the office. Before Trudy left she punched the man in the face. "How's that for security detail?"


	13. Chapter 13

Neytiri looked around the office. The walnut wooding reminded her of Hometree, how its grain seemed to make everything in the room right. However, she couldn't imagine cutting down a tree to decorate a room. The thought almost made her nauseous, but she was too strong for that. It was still a strange place though. For one, the room was much too small. She didn't enjoy crouching. It gave her less room to maneuver, and this was a hostile place. The hanging paintings on the wall reminder her of the pictures she had seen all her life, back in Hometree. Norm and Trudy sat in the corner conversing quietly.

She felt pain go through her heart. Her clan's ancestral home was still there, but it was sideways, lying on its trunk. Jake had tried moving the clan back, but the tree was impractical on its side. That's why the Omaticaya remained in a village on the ground. Neytiri hoped to be able to find a new _Kelutrel_, her ancestors had done it when they picked the first one, so why couldn't the People do it now? Jake had sent search parties out, but they hadn't been able to find a suitable home.

The human, Toby, was rapidly pressing a flat object with a bunch of scribbles on it. The same scribbles appeared on a light box on the table. She paid no attention to him; what he was doing held no interest to her. She only wanted his results. Jake was leaning across his shoulder. Neytiri could see his eyes move back and forth across the light box. This was the thing he called reading. Apparently on Earth, they had their language in writing, and they read it in things called books. She saw the shelves on the walls with thick objects on them and moved a few steps to her left and reached and grabbed one.

It was heavy, even for her. The cover was hard like wood and had some of the scribbles she saw on the thing Toby was using. She saw that it could open, and flipped over the cover. The inside had thin sheets, with more scribbles adorning the surface. Jake looked up from Toby's work and saw her. "What are you doing," he asked.

"Are these books?" She held it up for him to see. The red cover closed as she did so.

Jake was about to move to her side when Toby yelled "Got it!" Everyone huddled around the light box to see what he had found. His fingers moved over its screen and pictures opened up with more of the strange scribbles. His voice couldn't catch her attention. She kept looking at the book in her hands. What was it really for? Stories were better told through voice, through songs. Why would a person want to sit in silence and try to imagine a story from nothing. Something Toby said finally caught her attention.

"Site 48 is a Na'vi test lab," he was finishing.

"What do you mean," she asked.

"I mean they're doing tests on the Na'vi."

Neytiri felt a tear trickle down her cheek. "No," she whispered. Jake told her what some scientists did when they found something new. The images that formed in her head were horrible.

There was a quiet "whoosh" as the door opened. A man stood there, his upper lip covered in hair. He held a cup in his hand and it dropped to the ground and broke. Neytiri's mind hesitated only seconds. As the man turned to run, she tossed the book at him. Not so much tossed as chucked. It hit the back of his head with a dull thud and he hit ground with a skid.

For all the space she had, she moved quicker than anyone else. Even though they were Na'vi in body and soul, Jake and Norm were still clumsy by her standards. In an instant she was by the man's side. She saw his chest moving, so he was still alive. Flipping back his eyelid, she saw his brown iris constrict as the light from the hall made its way to his pupil. The fact that humans had different colored eyes still fascinated her. She had only seen the lush gold of the Na'vi for most of her life. The memory of Jake's blue eyes still held a significant spot in her mind though. They were beautiful.

Jake moved by her side, putting two of his fingers to the man's neck. "Good shot. You knocked him out cold."

"What do you mean 'knocked out'," she said, "I didn't knock anything."

Jake chuckled and shook his head. "Never mind," he said. He hooked his arms around the man's shoulders and dragged him back into the office. Neytiri followed him and Norm shut the door. Jake hefted the man into the chair that Trudy was just in and looked around the room. "We need something to bind him with," he said. "Look around, try to find something."

A search of the office turned up nothing, but the chair had a little bit of upholstery. The golden rope that lined its edges came off with little effort. They used it to tie s hands and feet to the chair. Once he was bound to Neytiri's satisfaction, Toby went back to the light box. "I'll see if I can find 48's location," he was saying. "The Na'vi shouldn't be tested on." Neytiri thanked him silently for that. At least not all the humans were senseless beings. But then again, Jake and his friends had shown him that. Especially Grace.

The man was beginning to come to. His eyes fluttered open and he tried to move his arms. "What the," he said. "Who the hell do you think you are? Danforth?! What the hell are you doing? I'll have your head for this!" He struggled against his restraints and grunted with the effort. "Untie me you savages!"

Neytiri took her hunting knife and pressed it against his cheek. His struggling ceased and his eyes opened wide as he stared at her angry face. "Where is this…" she looked at Toby for the word.

"Site 48," he said.

"Site 48," Neytiri repeated. "You will tell me, and I will let you live. If you choose silence…" she pressed the knife against his skin harder for emphasis. "Do you understand?"

The man nodded his head. "Yes, yes, just don't be rash.  
"Tell me," she crooned.

The man's eyes darted around the room. "You'll never get in, it's too heavily guarded." Neytiri pressed the knife a little harder, and he backed away instinctively. "Alright! On the coast, by the Eastern Sea, there's a cove. It's in there. But you'll never get in. They have four times as many people as we do here."

"Numbers aren't everything," Jake said. His hands were curled into fists as he moved closer. "No lies or-"

"I swear, I swear," he pled. "It's the truth! Why would I lie?"

"Come," Neytiri said to Jake. "We're done here, let's leave. I don't like this confinement." She pulled on his arm to get him to move.

The mismatched group filed out the office. Before Trudy left she punched the man in the face. "How's that for security detail?"

The journey to the village was a somber one. The day's events were taxing, and its revelations were the worst part. Neytiri's mind was full of questions for Jake. The thought of what her brothers and sisters were forced to endure made her sick. She equated the feeling to the helplessness she felt when she was pinned under the Palulukan during Jake and Quaritch's fight. Thankfully, everyone was quiet while they walked. It gave her mind time to process everything. What tests were they doing to the Na'vi? Why would they do that? There was only one answer that fit these questions. They were human.

She knew she couldn't put all humans under one category. Jake, Trudy, Grace, and Norm were proof of that. She couldn't throw Toby in with those four; she didn't know him well enough. Hopefully he would turn out for the best. His intentions seemed in the right place, but it took more than that to sway her. She made a mental note to watch him for anything out of the ordinary. Jake would need to help because he was the best at pointing out subtle changes in human behavior.

Her mind wandered far enough that she didn't notice Trudy and Jake talking quietly a few feet in front of her. She concentrated and her ears picked up the tail end of what Jake was saying.

"… still at Hell's Gate."

"Max is?" Trudy looked up. Neytiri felt saddened at what had happened to her. She was very beautiful, even for a human, and now fire had taken that away from her.

"Yeah, he's been there for a while. I offered to teach him how to be one of the People, but he told me he enjoyed looking through the eyepiece of a microscope way too much." Jake shrugged his shoulders. "Besides, I can only lead a horse to water, I can't make it drink." What a silly thing to say. Of course a horse will drink if it's led to water. Why wouldn't it? Neytiri never really understood the humor that went on between the humans.

"Would he let us stay there?" Trudy asked.

"I think he'd be ecstatic," Jake said. "He's been cooped up with everyone else who stayed. I can't wait to see his face once he recognizes you." He laughed and patted her shoulder, nearly knocking her over. "Woops," he said.

Trudy's face wrinkled as she regained her balance and frowned. Neytiri could only assume that she didn't like being unrecognizable. Maybe she could do something for her tonight, just to try and raise her spirits. She had said something before the battle, when they were putting the paint on her face and Samson. Was it makeover? Human ways and some of their words were really meaningless to her, but she figured she knew the meaning of makeover.

Her eyes wandered and landed on Toby. He had been very quiet since their departure from the Sky People's hidden cave. His feet kept moving, and his eyes were downcast. Maybe she should talk to him. At least try and get to know him. How bad could it be? She moved as deftly as possible to his side and said, "How long have you been here?"

Toby jumped, obviously so lost in thought he had not heard her approach. He looked her up and down and shook his head, mumbling. "I forgot you knew English." He stumbled over a root hidden in the leaves of the forest floor. Neytiri barely caught his arm before he hit his face. "Thanks," he mumbled. The forest gently gave way to the clearing where they had parked the stolen buggy. Trudy climbed in the driver seat and Toby climbed in behind her. "To answer your question," he said to Neytiri, "I've been here longer than I care to remember."

Neytiri frowned as the buggy disappeared. Why would he not care to remember? The humans had such strange ways. She put Trudy and Toby out of her mind and made turned to her life mate. "My Jake, we must consult with sa'nok. She may guide us in the right direction."

He shook his head. "I don't think this is something Mo'at can help with. This is something I don't think she will understand." His eyes locked on hers and she saw just how much pain this caused him. She finally understood that it hurt him just as much, if not more, than it did her. Humans were doing evil things, and he was once human. "We can speak with her, but I just don't know how much it will do."

Jake was more ashamed of himself now more than ever. His birth race was despicable. What do they have to test on the Na'vi? Weapons? Diseases? Poisons? The list in his head stretched on and on. He couldn't wait to find this hidden test lab and rip the humans limb from limb. No, he wouldn't do that. He could imagine the look on Neytiri's face if she were to witness it. Even she wouldn't think such an act would be proper, and she probably would never talk to him again for it, let alone stand to look at him.

Mo'at sat across the fire from him, conversing in Na'vi with Neytiri. He only paid half an ear, catching snippets of their conversation. He was too busy dealing with his own emotions to even try and contribute. Luckily, they seemed content enough to carry on themselves. How could he dismiss the fact that the RDA was gone from Pandora? Of course they would have something hidden here; it was just like them to do it. He was stupid for thinking so. He berated himself over and over, and the only word that came to mind was_ skxawng. _

"Jake!"

He looked up. Neytiri's face was worried and Mo'at seemed perplexed. "What?"

"You do not answer to your name, like you sleep with your eyes open," Neytiri said. "Are you troubled?"

He rubbed his eyes. "No," he said sarcastically. "No, some of the People are being held captive and being tested on. No, I'm not troubled at all!" Neytiri flinched as if struck. Immediately he realized he'd hurt her feelings. "Look, I'm sorry. I'm just… I've just got too much on my mind right now. I'll be back in a while." He stood and ran towards the Ikran nests.

The tree where the Ikrans were kept stood majestically just a few meters outside of the camp. He climbed and called for his own. The Ikran flew out of the nest and waited for him patiently. He ran by its side, patted the blue-green of its skin, and hopped on, making tsaheylu. The rush of raw energy from his partner still gave him the chills. Every time he climbed on his Ikran, he understood how Neytiri felt that one day at the top of Hometree. Not only could he feel the Ikrans every move, but he felt its emotions. When he was bonded, he knew where it hurt, just were to scratch it and pat it. Above all else though, he felt love.

Not the same love that he felt for Neytiri, but the kind of love he shared with his brother. In a way, it was almost like his brother was still alive, preserved in the mind and spirit of his Ikran. "Easy boy," he said. His Ikran screeched and flapped its wings, taking off into the air.

The wind cooled his face and his emotions. When he flew, he could just let go and be free. They climbed and climbed until the air became too cold to breath, and then dived for the ground. Jake's adrenaline began to spike, and he felt his heart beat faster and faster. The wind lashed at his face, making his eyes water. He watched as the ground came closer and closer, making the trees that looked like ants start to look like sky scrapers. He thought the words "pull up" and the Ikran did without any hesitation.

They coasted on the thermals, riding each one until it ended and the next started. They flew like this for hours, just enjoying each other's company. His eyes glanced towards the horizon and saw the glow from the sun. _Jesus_, he thought, _we've been flying all night_. His Ikran squawked in agreement. He angled down and headed back to the Ikran roost.

The Ikran landed on the ground to let him off. He hopped to the ground and broke the bond. "I'll see ya later pal," he said. The Ikran nudged his hand and squawked again before taking off into the canopy. He made his way back to the village and looked around for Neytiri. She was sound asleep in their tent, Tom'tey snoring softly on his pallet next to her. He sat down beside her and watched her sleep. For a minute he thought of how creepy this must look, but he pushed the thought aside.

Her beauty captivated him. The way her lips were parted and how her chest moved as she breathed made him feel lucky to have found her. No, he didn't find her, she found him. He was in a rough spot and she helped him get through it. She opened his eyes to see the world around him and to feel the power of Eywa, and also to help him become one of the People. He could never thank her enough for that.

He had always felt like he never belonged, even as a marine. Sure, it was a kick ass gig, but it took his legs away. With the Omaticaya, he felt at home. This was where he was meant to be, and sometimes he wondered why he hadn't been born to this world instead of the dying one he came from. He felt his eyes droop and he laid himself on his own pallet. Closing his eyes, he let his mind drift and think of the beauties of his new home. The thoughts of the test lab had been forgotten for the time being.

* * *

**Authors Note: I purposely didn't name Jake's Ikran because I didn't feel comfortable with labeling something original from the movie. Feel free to imagine the name for yourself.**


End file.
